16 January 2006

Universal Design Tool: Google Maps/Google Earth

A seven-year-old wants to "dig a hole to China." Show her exactly where she'd come out: (if this link doesn't give you the map, paste the address into your browser window) http://grad.icmc.usp.br/~cipriani/bighole.php . Watch rapid transit lines run and figure out the schedules (and maybe even things like average speed): http://www.mackers.com/projects/dartmaps/ . Teach urban navigation: http://nycsubway.eyebeamresearch.org/?DIM=400. Have students write stories that take place in distant cities using maps and satellite images. And do it all in a fascinating, attention-holding, accessible environment that's free once you have a broadband connection.

Google Maps (on-line for US, UK/IE, China, Canada, Japan, etc) and Google Earth (a free download) offer you all sorts of ways to involve students in personalizable education. (And imagine what these could be like on an interactive white board...) And the new "mash-up" craze of building Google Map overlays (like those above) gives you pre-created access to all kinds of expanded ideas. See http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/ for a blog devoted to this.